Although it isn’t entirely complete, this is a project I was asked to create in my Conceptual Design class. We were asked to make a visual metaphor.

My piece is a metaphor for the traumas that we as a society arm our children with. This box, I see, as the child, and us, society, sorting these traumas within them. Much like how a sorting box is meant for positive cognitive development in children, our society opens them up to these hazards that end up negatively affecting their cognitive development.

Firstly, I have a gun, which is representative of gun violence against children. Secondly is a hand, representative of abuse and crimes against children. Thirdly is a pill, representing the misuse of drugs and its effect on children. Lastly, I have a computer, which represents media and cyberbullying.

All of these have harsh, adverse effects on children and leave them with traumas that carry into their adulthood, setting our future up for misery and mental health issues.

I started this piece entirely with cardboard and hot glue, making the individual pieces as well as the box. I then moved on to using plaster strips, which are strips of fabric coated in dry plaster that you then submerge in water and cover whatever it is you’re working with.

This is a tad different to what I usually write about, but I hope you stuck around.

I do plan to come back to this post with an update upon its completion. See ya!